Golden Dawn
by Flipdarkfuture95
Summary: With the Vytal Tournament approaching, the students of Beacon Academy prepare their best and brightest to the world. Jaune and Ruby's teams want to succeed, but the past will haunt them, forcing them to reach for the future. Continuation of the show from Episode 13 to the end of the first season. Both teams are the focus.
1. Standing Up

**A/N **

So this story takes place shortly after RWBY Episode 13, and is essentially my personal take on how the season will finish. Jaune and Pyrrha feature heavily throughout the story, but Ruby and Weiss, and a little something involving Yang and Blake will be included as well. Hope you like it. Please criticize. Please review. It helps. :)

* * *

_Beacon Academy, the Kingdom of Vale._

"Combat is a unavoidable concept to a Hunstman or Huntress." Glynda looked up from the scroll at the gathered students either sitting or standing in the vast auditorium, lifting a slender hand to adjust her glasses a little and to move a curled bang out of her vision. She ignored the idiotic leers a few of the less... cultured students directed her way, having gotten used to those looks over the years by way of copious bodily injury directed at those involved. "This you already know well."

Looking up from her scroll, she scanned the groups at the fore, standing before the uniform clamshell edge of the stage she stood on. The girls eagerly awaited her every word, even catching Ruby's attention, to her own surprise. "And with the tournaments fast approaching, you will need to keep at your best to show the other academies why the best and brightest come to Beacon."

Next to them Lie Ren stood, rigid and patient as Nora bounced and hopped around nearby, poking his cheeks or blowing her cheeks out as she rocked back on forth on her feet. Pyrrha kept her gaze at all times, quietly watching her while next to the strong and resourceful girl Jaune tried his best to pay the same level of attention, finding it hard to do so with Cardin Winchester so close nearby.

"As such, these sessions will run even during the Vytal festival, where you'll get the opportunity to test yourself against students from the other Kingdoms. I also suggest you brush up on your dancing if you also want to attend the Ball."

To Glynda's curiosity, Jaune averted his eyes whenever Pyrrha glanced at him.

Filing away the observation for later she cleared her throat, the noise carrying loudly in the room. "As supervisor of these events it is my purpose to evaluate your individual skills and mindsets, to guide you on improving yourself so that you will survive in the field, and improve the odds of your team's survival with your own."

"Ms Xiao Long, and Ms Nikos will be the first pair for today's lesson." She nodded at the bubbly and tall blonde restlessly shifting her footing standing next to Blake, and then at Pyrrha as she resolutely nodded in response. "Girls. If you will."

Glynda swept her hand as she walked off to the side, stepping over a slightly raised line of the stage that slowly flickered to life, being impregnated with a soft blue light as the twin viewscreens hanging over the stage flickered to life.

Pyrrha worked on timing her breathing as she stepped onto the stage, resisting the urge to look back and see how Jaune was doing as she walked past Professor Goodwitch, smiling at the tall blonde woman as she passed by. She gave a stoic nod in response.

Above the two statistics bars and gauges flared to life, and a picture of them came on.

Coming to a stop on the periphery of the floor contained inside the glowing blue ring, she rolled her shoulders and took Miló. The floodlights bathing the stage glinted off the bright red metal of the sharply angled blade, the edges of which were colored a vivid golden hue, easily catching most of the light.

Her fingers moved on the red and gold handle as she worked on removing her shield from the magnetic harness sewn to the back of her cuirass. A calming sensation flowed through her with the familiar heaviness of Milo and Akouo protecting her, like they did her parents.

Across from her Yang held a devilish grin as she fully extended her arms outwards, cracking a kink in her neck as golden plates slid to cover her forearms from the elbow in segments, the backmost of which ending in pointed tips poking out past her elbows. The heavy-looking gauntlets finished in twin brass barrels resting on the top of her wrists, festooned with a ring of buckshot shells just behind her wrists feeding into the receivers.

"Ready when you are, Pyrrha!" Yang called out, brushing a series of stray locks from her eyes despite the unwieldy weapon covering her hand.

She followed custom, bowing to the wild beauty while wearing a slight smirk that wasn't custom. "After you, Yang-"

Yang slammed the points of the golden gauntlets together with a ringing metallic peal and pulled her arms back, settling into a runner's stance. "Let's do this!"

Flames shot out of her gauntlets with explosive force, a shell from each one the only thing she left behind as Yang launched into the air with a right hook directed at Pyrrha's shoulder.

She immediately leaned in the opposite direction, darting underneath Yang just before she touched the ground and thrusting the bronze face of her shield upwards. Yang chuckled and placed her palms on the shield to steady herself for a moment before springing over Pyrrha's head, flinging a hand out to grab the end of her fierce red ponytail.

Pyrrha grunted as her finger brushed a sensitive point on Miló, and the sword instantly responded by thinning and growing longer, where the handle telescoped into the floor inbetween Yang's legs with a clang. Dipping to the side, Pyrrha managed to sweep out Yang's legs from underneath her, only to get a glancing blow from one of her gauntlets in the side, sending her world spinning.

Yang fired into the ground and launched upwards again to get some space between her and Pyrrha's jabbing thrusts, carefully tracking broad spearhead as it snapped forwards then back.

She suddenly grinned, putting Pyrrha off-balance as her hand shot out and got a firm grip on the pole just underneath the spearhead. Pyrrha yelped as the bucking and shifting pole nearly got wrenched out of her hands while Yang swung herself on it, around and around as Pyrrha fought to keep her in her sights.

A thought went through Pyrrha as she tipped backwards, falling back on the floor to the murmurs of the gathered students and to Nora's loud cheering. She kept the spear upright as it fell with her. Yang lost her grip, tumbling to a stop a short distance away.

Pyrrha leapt back up, ignoring the sweat gathering on her skin as she swung Milo around her body before sweeping it over her head in a downwards slash at Yang as she began to recover from the fall. Yang's eyes widened and her arms covered her head, the head of Pyrrha's spear being stopped cold by her gauntlets.

Metal grinded against metal as the two girls fought to gain the advantage, when the buzzer sounded and the ring of light around them flashed red for a few seconds.

"Ladies."

Breathing heavily, Pyrrha stumbled back from Yang and sheathed Milo and Akouo, immediately extending a arm to help the other girl to her feet. Also breathing heavily, Yang had a little smirk on her as the two of them stood side by side, while Professor Goodwitch stopped in front of them, looking down at her scroll. "Neither of your aura's dipped into the red." Glynda nodded. "Impressive."

Yang's shoulders heaved up and down as she nodded eagerly at the woman's faint praise, lightly punching Pyrrha in the shoulder with a wink in her direction. "Nothing to it, Professor."

"I would suggest to your team leaders that they place both of you in the role of dealing and taking the most punishment from opponents. You both have remarkable endurance and stamina." the Professor gestured at the edge of the stage and the two girls walked past her.

"I think I won that." Yang whispered in Pyrrha's ear."

"I believe we are equally matched, Yang." Pyrrha whispered back, smiling at her as they approached Ruby, Weiss and Blake.

Yang immediately moved to stand next to the dark-haired girl, folding her arms with a pleased expression on her while Ruby whispered a series of excited cheers. Weiss rolled her eyes, giving a faint smile to Pyrrha just before she moved off to rejoin Jaune and the others.

She expected to see some kind of reaction from him, but instead he kept a neutral expression, concentrating intently in the direction of the stage. Pyrrha raised a eyebrow and looked over her shoulder, concern surfacing immediately at the sight of Jaune's portrait on one screen and Cardin Winchester's on the other.

"Mr Winchester. Mr Arc. You're up."

Pyrrha watched in horror as the tall youth shouldered his way past the other students with his broad shoulders, a slightly bored look on him mixed with a level of excitement as he moved onto the stage, sauntering into the fight circle with the baroque-styled iron head of his absolutely massive mace resting easy on his shoulder. Jaune kept his eyes on the floor as he moved past Pyrrha, not even looking at her or responding to Ruby's puzzled expression.

Once he got onto the circle he drew his sword and removed his collapsible shield from his hip, the contraption expanding into a small kite shield with a crescent moon emblazoned on the front. He held up his sword, keeping the tip straight as he pointed it right at Cardin.

Cardin chuckled lazily as he rolled his shoulder, 'accidentally' bumping the mace off his shoulder and slamming the heavy iron head into the floor with a deep ding, resounding across the vast auditorium.

The students began to whisper as Jaune flinched slightly, gritting his teeth and reaffirming his grip on his sword. Pyrrha kept silent, bowing her head at the memory of the night before, his refusal of her help.

Despite trying to keep herself from watching the short yet brutal mismatch, her green eyes flicked up, tracking Jaune as he desperately and _narrowly_ avoided Cardin's meteoric swings and sweeps, jabbing and slashing futilely with his own in a few agonizingly sloppy attempts to slow him.

Pyrrha's eyes widened at one point in the fight, while Ruby cried out in alarm when Cardin chuckled as Jaune slipped up and dodged the wrong way or moved too late, slamming the thick flanged iron right into the blonde boy's chestplate, cracking it in several places and knocking all the wind out of him as he dropped like a fly onto the floor, curled in the fetal position with his eyes screwed shut.

Cardin swung his mace downwards at Jaune's exposed body, and Pyrrha's hand automatically shifted to grab Milo from her back, ignoring the curious murmuring and gasps of alarm from the students behind her as it lengthened out to a javelin. Pyrrha loosed, and the crimson spear's point hit home inside the twisted iron cage of the head of Cardin's mace, having been thrown with enough force to force it out of the larger boy's grip and drop with a booming clang behind him.

She narrowed her eyes in response to the absolutely furious glare on Cardin, her hands tightening into fists when Ren's hand pulled her back. "Pyrrha. Stop!"

Glynda shot a look at her as she stormed out onto the field, tapping the scroll furiously as the ring pulsed red and the alarm blared to signal the end of the fight. "Enough, Mr Winchester! Your opponent is defeated! You have won!"

"Not until I beat her into the-"

"Finish that sentence and you will be dismissed entirely from Beacon." Glynda glanced at Jaune as he picked himself up, a hand on his side and a few bruises and scratches all over his face. "Mr Arc. Retire from the field."

"But-"

"I said move. You're lucky for Ms Nikos's assistance."

Pyrrha's voice deserted her as she watched Jaune nod and silently turn from Professor Goodwitch while her attention went back to Cardin. When Jaune came close she took a step towards him, but Jaune shook his head.

* * *

Jaune grumbled as Nora leaned forwards across the table and waved her hand in front of him for some strange reason only known to her. And possibly Lie Ren. He stabbed the thick sausage on his plate several times in succession, getting a look from Weiss as she deftly and carefully sliced her own food into neat slices, scraping her silverware clean each time. "What happened to eating properly, Jaune?"

He shrugged as he stared down at his plate, continuing to stab the prongs into the sausage until the thick and glossy skin was riddled with small pinpricks.

Weiss scowled at his behavior, pushing her own plate away and folding her arms. On the other side of her Yang slowly inched her hand onto the table towards the exposed food, while Blake quietly chuckled behind the cover of her book.

Loosing a sigh and throwing a look at Yang not to steal her food, she turned to the crestfallen boy, wincing a little at the level of bruising on his jaw and cheeks. "Look Jaune, I've met countless guys like him. They won't back off unless you do something decisive. He's your run of the mill blockhead. Easy to deal with."

"Uh huh." Weiss rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to her plate only to narrow them at the lack of venison she so savored, glaring up at Yang and flailing her arms while the tall girl easily kept the meat slice out of her reach with her long arms, patting Jaune's shoulder as she stopped at the other side of the table, squatting down. She winked at Weiss and stuck her thumb out at her. "Yeah. Weiss is right. Guys like that never learn unless you kick their ass!"

"Guys... like that?" Jaune glanced at Yang as her cheeks colored.

Yang cleared her throat, gulping down the last of the meat and playing with her hair as she muttered something and looked away, going back to her seat.

Jaune leveled a curious look at her before looking back to his food, while Ruby slammed her fist down on the table, ignoring Weiss's shocked yelp. "Listen, whatever you have to do, it has to be soon. Otherwise he'll never leave you alone!"

Blake looked up from her book, interrupted. She leaned backwards on the seat to look past the backs of Yang and Weiss at Jaune. "Or you could just avoid him. Or break him."

Yang's eyebrow raised as she glanced at Blake, who started to blink furiously and hurriedly go back to her book. "Wow." Yang said.

"Thank you, Blake... thank you, everyone." Jaune muttered, bowing his head and loosing a sigh.

Nora saw this and stood up to her full height, only standing a head above Lie Ren as he calmly ate his food. "He's a big guy, so it's not just his legs you need to break! Ribs too! Oh, and some fingers!"

"That's enough, Nora." Lie Ren pulled her back down.

"Okay, that's a little bit overboard, Nora-" Jaune went to chuckle as a large shadow fell over his plate. He stiffened, turning around in his seat to stare up at Cardin's barrel chest.

Before Jaune could react, Cardin clapped his shoulder before moving to the other side of the table, returning the glares everyone directed at him while stopping over Pyrrha as she held a resolute gaze on her. His smile widened as he folded his arms, nodding at the girl's exposed arms and bare shoulders. "Those arms of yours have got some nice moves, Nikos."

"What do you want, Cardin?"

"Just a chat..." The big guy smirked lazily at Pyrrha, and she blinked twice and looked away, not liking the looks he gave her.

Something in Jaune growled. He dropped his fork and pushed away from the table. Cardin barely noticed that he had stopped behind his shoulder. "Step away from her."

"Oh. You're here."

Cardin winked at Pyrrha, putting a unwanted sensation down her spine as she watched the brute turn around and loom over Jaune. She watched as he gritted his teeth, refusing to take a step back. "You and me, Cardin! We're settling this!"

Jaune glanced at Pyrrha, steeling himself as he waited for Cardin to mull it over, heart beating a furious pace.

"Alright. Another beatdown!" Jaune fought a gulp back down as yet again Cardin's finger, almost as thick as two of his own poked him in the chest, making him stumble back a bit. "Where do you want me, scrawny?"

"Uh-" His eyes flicked over to Pyrrha's as she shook her head and all of a sudden he managed to clear his throat and give a confident nod. He faced up to Cardin, ignoring Pyrrha. "The Southern Terrace."

Cardin grinned and took another step forward, making Jaune lose his footing, Cardin noticed with a smirk. "I'll be there. We'll see if you do your family proud, Arc."

Paralysed internally, Jaune's thoughts immediately dragged him down as Cardin walked away, rejoining his team as they waited nearby.

Once the jeering pack had returned to their table, his thoughts slowly came back. And he realised just what he had agreed to.

Blake looked up from her book with a tight smile, her fingertip resting lightly on the corner of the current page. "It was nice knowing you."

Pyrrha had stayed quiet during all of this. She frowned, rubbing her elbows as she failed to stop her concern from showing on her features. "Be careful, Jaune." she muttered to herself.

Jaune finally let himself gulp.

* * *

"There. He should have committed to that riposte. Instead he tried a roll."

"Prudent planning, countering a mace-user is never advised. They will simply outweigh you."

"Right." Glynda narrowed her eyes as she moved towards the stained glass window behind Ozpin's highbacked chair, watching as the sun slowly settled below the stretch of sparkling golden water separating the Academy from Vale proper.

Behind her Ozpin stroked his chin as he watched Jaune and Cardin's fight continue, even as the blond-haired boy's movements lagged at every turn while Cardin held a easy smirk as his confidence only grew with each thunderous swing. Ozpin's eyebrow crinkled at the sight of the simple longsword the boy struggled to keep a grip on as he rolled around in desperation "He's quick on his feet." Ozpin observed.

Glynda loosed a frustrated grunt. "Yes. But quick feet aren't the only factor in a battle."

"What about the encounter with the Nevermore both teams had in the Emerald Forest? Jaune showed a cool head and collected thought against overwhelming odds."

"Which was strangely absent against the Death Stinger that followed him and Ms Nikos to the others, endangering their lives."

Ozpin nodded and held his hand out to her. "True. But that doesn't diminish his potential. Or are you basing your opinion on his performance in the classroom against a individual such as Cardin Winchester?"

"That's not it, Oz. Look-" Glynda unfolded her arms and turned away from the window, tossing the scroll onto the corner of Ozpin's cluttered desk, disturbing the Mistrallan Owl sitting on its perch. Ozpin tilted his head and looked up at her with a arched eyebrow. Glynda narrowed her eyes. "A boy like that just doesn't fit his transcript. Both Professor Port and Professor Oobleck have reported that he doesn't even grasp _several_ fundamental concepts of being a huntsman."

Ozpin smirked. "Oh? I've been told he as a substantial aura. In fact almost as strong as the heroes that-"

"That delivered us from Grim." Glynda sighed. "I know."

"So what's the issue?"

Glynda rolled her eyes at her old friend's glibness and grimaced. "I just don't want the boy to put himself in harm's way chasing after a life he is unsuited for."

"Your concern is noted, Professor Goodwitch." Ozpin laced his hands together, giving a firm nod. "I'll keep a eye on him, for the moment."


	2. Falling Down

**A/N**

So, uh, sorry for the kind of real long release time. It only takes me a tops of 4 hours to write each chapter, but I'm working on this huge Legend of Korra series as well, and that's my main focus. This is for sort of a way to get my thoughts directed elsewhere. On the bright side, I'm really enjoying writing these and am loving the feedback!

Please review. Please criticize.

* * *

A shrill whistle tumbled her thoughts into disarray as her eyes flew open and she rolled off the lopsided mattress with a squeak, slamming into the carpet with a thud muffled by her bedsheets.

Ruby groaned as she slowly clawed her way out of the twisted mess, flipping up her eyemask to see Weiss standing in the doorway. Ruby frowned a little at the whistle she held onto. "My leading whistle..."

"Are you up?"

Ruby squirmed around, kicking her legs and sucking in her gut to get free of the tumbled twister of fabric. Somehow this translated to her managing to hop to her feet, still wrapped inside the bedsheets with her unimpressed face poking out as she peered over her shoulder at the cold early, _very early_, morning. She pulled a face and slowly turned back to Weiss. "Can't I lead the team after the sun comes up?"

Weiss shook her head. "Nope. We need to get started!" Her eyes slid over to the other side of the room, focusing on the stacks of sloppily placed books acting as supports for a bed standing on top of another.

On the top, Blake's golden eyes flicked open and she loosed a tiny hiss at Weiss's loud talking. She sat up, scratching her back while using a hand to smooth out the tangled kinks in her raven hair as it tumbled down her back. Stretching, she hopped off the bed and landed on the floor without a sound. She folded her arms. "Its too early."

"Nonsense." Weiss shook her head as Yang's snores grated on her. her eyebrow twitched as she gritted her teeth.

Behind Blake's back, Yang pawed and tumbled around in her sleep, occasionally kicking her completely bare legs and mumbling some half-garbled noises. The rising sun's rays shone through the room's window, completely bypassing the sliced red curtain and hitting her luxurious golden locks that framed her sleeping features, and also glinted on the drool coming out of her open maw as she loudly snored like no tomorrow.

Blake smirked at the sight, and Ruby placed a hand on her hip as Weiss grunted in frustration and brought the whistle up, taking a deep breath before unleashing a shrill noise that forced Blake to cover both pairs of her ears, Ruby squeaked again as Yang sat up in shock, looking around with her chest heaving. "Aah! I'm up!"

With a satisfied nod Weiss wiped off the whistle and tossed it to Ruby. "Good. We've got studying to do."

Her thoughts of sleep went away at the look of focus on Weiss. Ruby gave a determined nod. "Right."

Yang stumbled to her feet with a groan, shaking out her hair. "What are we doing?" she mumbled, eyes half-closed and still sleepy.

"Getting ahead on the other teams. Jaune and his team are still asleep, as are Cardin and his fellow idiots. If we start focusing now, we'll definitely be ready before the Vytal Festival comes around!"

At the mention of Jaune, Blake and Yang frowned while Ruby glanced at the floor and mashed her fingers together. "I hope he's doing alright..."

"This business Jaune's gotten himself into is worrying. But we can't worry about Team Juniper's squeaky voiced leader! We need to worry about _our _squeaky voiced leader! The tournament is coming up and we are going be there to represent Beacon!" Weiss pushed Ruby towards the stack of books at the foot of their bunk-bed, placing a hefty amount in her arms before carrying the rest herself out of the room.

"Onwards!"

"I've never seen Weiss so... animated." Yang folded her arms and shared a cat-like smirk with Blake.

A knock on the door made them both turn to it.

Yang pulled the door open to see Pyrrha standing there, her usually done-up fiery hair completely enveloping her shoulders and dressed in a brown t-shirt and dark red pyjama pants.

"Pyrrha?"

"Good morning. Where are Ruby and Weiss going?"

Yang pulled a face, sticking out her tongue and blanching at the very idea of reading line after line about the interesting patterns some old guy found on the rear-end of a razorback. Professor Port popped up in her thoughts and her skin greyed.

Pyrrha blinked twice, calmly waiting for her response.

"The library for study." Blake answered for Yang. She arched a eyebrow at the way Pyrrha slowly nodded. "Is something wrong?"

"... I was just wondering if you had seen Jaune at all. He didn't come back to the dormitory last night."

* * *

"Ah yes, where do I begin? The Vytal festival is impossibly vital, pardon me, for hunters all over the world! And a great way for the four kingdoms to show their best and brightest to each other!"

Oobleck stopped furiously tapping on various points on the huge world map behind his suffering desk and zipped to it faster than the eye could follow, taking three rapid-fire sips from a white mug before readjusting his glasses and going back to the board.

"With its southern border straddling the Grim Badlands and sitting just across the Lightened Sea from Vale, Mistral is our closest neighbor! As it is, their contingent for the festival will be arriving first. Comprised of the royal family and teachers as well as students from Sanctum! Which I believe is the academy Ms Nikos hails from? Am I correct, Ms Nikos?"_  
_

Pyrrha shook her head to focus, wiping the grimace off and nodding at the zippy Professor. "Yes, Professor."

"Excellent! And where is Sanctum located?"

"The central plains outside of the capital."

"Very good!"

Oobleck nodded eagerly and zipped to his desk, picking up a thick book twice the size of his chest with one hand and flipping it to a page in the center, taking a sip of his coffee. "Now, instead of being ruled by a community elected group of officials like Vale is, Mistral is instead administrated by a King and Queen and their own council of advisors, who all..."

She tuned out at the mention of Mistral's King and Queen, her eyes sliding over to the empty row at the front of the class where Jaune usually sat. Next to her Ren glanced in her direction. "Give him time, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha quickly looked at him. "What?"

The calm boy's purple eyes twinkled with slight amusement. "I'm good at reading auras."

She sighed, hand tightening a little as she noticed Cardin and his team hounding a couple of hapless students in the row above them. Pyrrha looked at Ren. "I... I'm worried about what he said yesterday."

"About fighting Cardin? I'm not." Ren turned his attention back to the front of the class before she could even ask why he wasn't worried at all.

The look she saw in Jaune's eyes yesterday definitely told her he was going to do it. She panicked a little as she looked in Cardin's direction, wondering if the big brute had already encountered Jaune. If he was hurt, she needed to-

"Class, Professor Port is here to assist in detailing the types of Grim you will need to know in order to qualify for the Vytal tournament."

At the front, a portly man wearing a crimson waistcoat and calvary boots nodded to the students. His full head of silvery hair almost gleamed in the room's lights, but not enough to stop attention from being drawn to the gargantuan equally silvery mostauche that covered the entirety of his mouth. "I am glad to offer my services for the day." Professor Port rubbed his hands together and chuckled, raising a eyebrow to wink at Yang before addressing the room. "Now-"

"Wait! Ms Nikos? Where is Mr Arc?" Oobleck tapped his foot incessantly, creating a series of echoing clacks on the hardwood floor.

Below her row, Ruby and Weiss glanced up at each other before looking to her with a curious expression.

She noticed that both Oobleck and Port were looking at her as well. "Jaune is... absent from class today. Unwell."

"Hmph." Professor Port shared a glance with Oobleck, stroking his moustache. "Intriguing. I'm sure you will copy a few notes down for him, then?"

Pyrrha couldn't stop herself from immediately nodding if she tried. "Yes." In the corner of her eye she caught Cardin smirking at her. Her eyes narrowed. "Of course."

While Port dragged Oobleck into manhandling a violently shaking wooden box with airholes in the sides onto the floor of the classroom, Ruby quickly glanced at Pyrrha again. She raised a hand to the side of her mouth. "Don't worry, Pyrrha. We'll find him after class."

* * *

Wiping his brow, Jaune loosed breath after breath as he stumbled to his feet. Swaying a little, he shook his head and moved forwards, resecuring his shield's harness as he picked up his sword again.

The tip scraped against the concrete and almost instantly he struggled to lift the tip up and keep it there. The early evening breeze brought a chill to his thin bare arms, making him glance at his black hoodie he had taken off hours back, wishing he was wearing something more substantial than a orange t-shirt.

Taking in huge raking breaths he kept the point of his sword balanced on the ground, using it to keep upright as he glanced up at the warm orange clouds wafting over the academy's towers, their edges swathed in golden brilliance as the setting sun's rays caught them. The sky itself was a sallow yellow in hue, which would have been something to see for Jaune if his thoughts weren't filled with parrys, ripostes and feints.

"Y'know, you picked a pretty good spot for this to go down, Arc."

Jaune's eyes widened before they narrowed. He whirled around as Cardin sauntered onto the stone walkway, wearing his full suit of armor. His huge iron mace sat on his shoulder while he carried a smooth-shaped helmet in the crook of his elbow.

"So you're serious about this. Good for you, Arc. I decided to bring my friends along for some moral support. They'll cheer me on to the sound of your bones shattering, okay?" Cardin tilted his head in just the right way to piss Jaune off. "Just so you know, my arrangement still stands."

Jaune growled. "I'm not doing your dirty work, Cardin!"

"Okay, you miss out on the bonus though." He smirked. "Where's your harem? And your fellow pretty boy?"

The rest of Cardin's team laughed or sniggered among themselves, deepening the growl on Jaune as he stood before Cardin. "This is between you and me. No one else."

"Very noble." Cardin rolled his shoulder, bumping the heavy mace head off his shoulder. It slammed into the roof with a heavy thud, a small web of cracks appearing around it in the concrete. He kept the smirk on he started walking, slowly closing the distance between them while dragging the mace head behind him. The heavy iron grinded against the roof, setting Jaune's teeth on edge as he fought to keep his blade from wavering in his hand.

Cardin came to a stop a short distance away, a bored expression on him. He beckoned. "Waiting."

Jaune wasted no time, rushing forwards with his head down to get beyond the reach of the huge mace head. The wind whistled as it rushed through the cage-like structure of the mace as it came at Jaune's head from the side. Instinctively he raised his shield, crying out as the impact sent jarring bolts up his shield arm, taking him off-balance. Jaune managed to recover and slip underneath Cardin's outstretched arm, steeling himself for a slash at the big boy's exposed side.

As he wrestled with the idea of actually drawing blood, Cardin's elbow crashed down on the top of his back, knocking him to the ground. He now held his mace in his other hand, keeping it at rest as he directed a swift kick into Jaune's chest, winding the boy and nearly making him drop his sword.

He grimly held onto it as he weathered another kick, expecting a third only for Cardin's foot to find his side and send him tumbling along the ground. His thoughts tumbled with him and every muscle in his body burned as he came to a stop, one eye still open to see Cardin advancing with his mace raised.

Both of his eyes flew open and he rolled to the side, the impact of the mace into the concrete only inches from his nose sending tremors through his bones and making his gritted teeth rattle. Breathing heavily he watched as Cardin retracted the mace as quick as a snake, standing over him with a triumphant expression to the cheers of his team somewhere in the background.

Strangely Jaune's eyes were focused solely on the blood-red gem nestled in the center of the mace head as it came crashing towards him with meteoric speed. Automatically he brought his shield to cover his chest, a terrible shock running through him as the mace crashed into the shield, pushing it into his chest. He coughed once, head spinning and vision swimming as a savage light arose in Cardin's eyes.

Another hit and he coughed and sputtered, and his arms felt dead, crushed as they were between the shield and his chestplate. Cardin's shadow loomed as he took a step forwards to better position himself as he swung downward again and again. Beneath him the concrete dug into his back and his heartbeat slowed at the next impact.

As Cardin began to noticeably slacken, his swing slower than normal, Jaune's thoughts managed to kick his body into gear and he tried to rise, only for Cardin to drop the mace and lift him up by the collar, staring into his drooping eyes with a tired grin. "Still wanna go?"

Jaune didn't feel it in his numb hands as his sword slipped and clattered to the concrete below. With a half-coherent snarl, Jaune tried to summon his defiance as he awkwardly formed his limp and numb hand into a fist, swinging it into Cardin's side with no noticeable effect.

Cardin's own fist crashed into his stomach, forcing his mouth open and his eyes to widen as he loosed a raw gasp. His hand fell limp as his eyes couldn't focus on Cardin, barely registering as Cardin pulled his fist back for another strike that would surely knock his lights out-

The sunlight gleamed off the smooth face of a brass shield as it slammed into Cardin's side, Pyrrha's fiery red hair whipping behind her as Cardin lost his grip on Jaune's collar, sending him crashing to the ground in a barely breathing heap.

His eyes fluttered as he saw Pyrrha, standing tall with a growl on her normally stoic features, hunkered behind her shield with her crimson sword up and pointed at the recovering brute.

Ruby ran to her side, Crimson Rose's wickedly curved blade glinting in the light as the slight girl held it in front of her. Weiss stood as still as a statue next to her, Myernaster's needle-thin blade pointed at Cardin and his team as they backed off.

Cardin looked at the three of them in turn, a snarl on his features.

Pyrrha and Ruby both returned it, while Weiss held a cold stare.

The snarl gave way to a chuckle. "Some friends of yours, Arc." He turned, stowing his mace and leading his team through the open doorway behind them leading off of the terrace.

None of the girls moved or batted a eyelid for several seconds, while Jaune quietly bit down on a groan as he tried getting to his feet.

The three of them turned to him. "Jaune!" Ruby took a few steps closer, folding up Crimson Rose with worry in her eyes while both Pyrrha and Weiss stayed where they are.

Weiss sheathed Myternaster on her hip, shaking her head with a muttered swear at the sight of his bruises with pity. Pyrrha had a inescrutable look on her as she slunged Milo and Akouo on her back. There was sympathy in her eyes as she beheld the swollen bruises on his face, the scratches and bruises mottling his arms and the haggard way he breathed.

Jaune found nothing but anger in the face of them standing there. Sympathy. He _hated _it. Without a word he turned, one hand on his leg and another clamped on his side as he hobbled towards a footbridge connecting the terrace to the other buildings.

"Jaune- wait!" Ruby reached out, only for him to focus a glare at her.

He limped away.

* * *

The slick plastic dampened and matted down his blonde hair into a flat mat as he held the small ice bag over his head, eyes closed as he loosed a sigh and tipped his head back against the stone railing he had his back propped against.

He ignored the twinges of pain from blinking as he quietly watched the dark clouds gently floating above, while he occasionally flexed and moved his free hand. He ignored the shivers the wind brought down his spine, too focused inwards to care.

One of the window doors to the balcony swung open with a slight creak. Jaune kept his eyes on the ground as Pyrrha stepped out onto the balcony, her hair loose and completely free of the ponytail she had it up in most of the time. Cradled against her chest was his twisted black jumper, and his collapsed shield and sword resting on top.

Silently she strode to the railing, staring up at the dark night sky. "You left your things behind. I held onto them for you."

He stayed still, keeping his mouth closed as she shot a quick glance at him before looking away. He kept trying to stop his eyes from wandering over her completely bare pale legs, or getting lost in the twisted curls of her long hair down her back.

The strong girl bent down to place his things on the ground before closing her eyes. She opened them again and turned to him, her arms folded.

"You were absent for class today."

"I was training."

She nodded, looking to the side and remembering her own offer to him. "I'm still willing to help you, Jaune."

"Really?" Jaune muttered, hissing at the pain from blinking and placing the ice pack over his swollen bruised eye. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Pyrrha couldn't help staring at his bruises, a grimace on her. "Why won't us help you? We're worried about you-"

"I need to stand on my own. I'll never be good enough to lead the team if I don't."

She blinked twice, shaking her head. "Jaune, I know you don't think you belong here. But, you're wrong-"

"Am I?" Jaune looked her in the eye, dropping the ice pack. "You've seen how lousy I am in a fight. And Cardin just proved it all over again." A growl surfaced on him. "All my life I've been a failure, the only thing I ever succeeded at was faking my way into Beacon!"

"You're not a failure." Pyrrha muttered.

He tilted his head and looked at her with a scowl, getting to his feet. "The first person I ever talked to here was Ruby! And she was moved ahead two years! The second was the Heir to the Schnee Dynasty! And the third was you! A superstar athlete who won the Mistral championships four times in a row with her faced plastered all over cereal boxes! Why do you even follow me?"

Pyrrha's hands shook as she turned away from him. "You're my leader."

He paused in disbelief at how simply she was looking at it and shook his head. "Because Ozpin said so?"

"He chose you for a reason, Jaune." Pyrrha narrowed her eyes and turned back, looking at him straight in the eye. "Like I did." She said, tone as icy as the wind.

Studying her guarded features he shook his head again, shoulders drooping. "You're both wrong." he muttered.

Pyrrha stiffened, almost flinched as he stared at his feet. "Everyone in my family is a hero or a warrior, protecting the world, saving the innocent, and then there's _me_." His voice grew thick. "The scrawny huntsman wannabe with a banged up shield and sword, who for some reason, you think is some kind of... of... superstar! Just like you and the rest of my family!"

"I don't even get why you're interested in me. At all."

"Jaune-" Her eyes softened.

"You're what I want to be. I-" His nervousness showed as his voice cracked, like it tended to whenever he was this close to her. His shoulders dropped as he stared at his feet. "Even Cardin is a better hero than I could ever be."

Stunned into silence and with no idea of what to say next, Pyrrha bowed her head and turned away from Jaune, hugging herself as she stopped by the door and looked back at him, giving a single nod before going back inside the dormitory.

Jaune gritted his teeth and wiped his eyes.


	3. Finding Help

**A/N**

So here's the next chap, and I've finally decided I'm actually going to commit to this fun little story. The next chap should be out much sooner than this one was, seeing as I'm going to borrow a little from the Forever Fall episodes as I can't pass the chance up to use them. They'll play out a little bit differently here.

Please review. Please criticize.

* * *

"Students. Tomorrow we'll be taking a break from the combat trials to visit one of Vale's most striking landmarks. The Forever Fall. I'm sure many of you will welcome to the opportunity."

Weiss sat completely straight, hands clasped in front of her as Professor Goodwitch paced back and forth across the floor of the lecture hall, tapping occasionally on a scroll she held in her grip.

A few moments later tiny lenses fixed to the four corners of the wooden board behind her taking up most of the wall winked on, clicking to life and projecting a series of slides.

Weiss blinked twice, marvelling at the vibrant reds and crimsons of the leaves constantly falling in each slide, covering the entirety of the forest floor in a carpet of red so thick it made her eyes hurt a little just looking at it.

Next to her Ruby drew in a small intake of breath at the same sight, prompting Weiss to fold her arms and give a little smirk. "That forest has got your name written all over it, Ruby."

Ruby answered with a series of eager nods, her mouth hanging open in awe at the natural beauty of the forest.

Weiss rolled her eyes, before noticing how terse Blake had become on her other side. She arched a eyebrow at the guarded expression on the raven-haired girl as Professor Goodwitch continued moving through the slides.

"Now, during the trip we'll be collecting a few samples for Professor Peach's alchemical classes..."

She fought to keep her attention, noticing that Ruby was reaching her foot down under her desk and tapping Pyrrha on the shoulder. "Hey, Pyrrha? Have you talked to Jaune yet?"

The red-haired girl's green eyes flicked up at the disturbance as she shook her head. "I tried." she muttered, looking down at the back of Jaune's head and the edges of a couple of bandages rolled around his shoulder, visible through the gap in his collar.

Pyrrha loosed a breath and looked away, staring down at her lap.

"Psst!"

As the slides changed on the classroom's far wall, Pyrrha felt Nora's finger poking her shoulder. She arched a eyebrow and turned to the bubbly girl.

"Has he broken his legs yet?"

"No."

Nora grumbled something and sat back in her seat again, next to her, Lie Ren kept his attention on the front of the class.

"Everyone will report to the auditorium first thing tomorrow morning. From there one of the Sky-Flyers will take us to the Forever Fall and you'll separate into your respective teams for the day." Her laser-focused eyes scanned the bored and unimpressed faces of Team Cardinal clustered in the right-wing seats of the room, also including the members of Team Juniper and Ruby as well. Glynda Goodwitch focused on Jaune for a few seconds. "I will supervise the more... volatile... teams."

Murmurs went up across the classroom while she cleared her throat loudly, creating a echo in the room. "As such today's lessons will be ended a hour early. You have free time until sunrise tomorrow. Be sharp and on time. Dismissed."

Everyone in the room started to move towards the exit at the top of the stairs while Pyrrha sat still, noticing that Jaune flinched as Cardin and his team moved past him, sinking even lower into his seat. She grimaced with a scowl directed at the brute, only to notice him glaring in her direction with a fire she hadn't seen before.

She returned the look with the same intensity, before picking up her books and following Lie Ren and Nora as they moved out onto the steps behind Ruby and Yang.

"Ms Nikos." Pyrrha stopped in her tracks, sharing a glance with Lie Ren and Nora before turning and moving down the steps, noticing that Jaune had already left the room.

She approached Professor Goodwitch's neat and organized desk, a far cry from how Professor Oobleck had it arranged during his lessons. The intense woman bent up from adjusting a pencil and leveled a glance at her. "Professor Ozpin would like to see you. Come with me."

* * *

Pyrrha came to a stop as Professor Goodwitch continued past, stopping by the side of Ozpin as he sat in his chair, fingers clasped under his chin with a steaming cup of coffee in front of him.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

Ozpin inclined his head to her, looking at the empty chair on the other side of his desk. "Please, sit, Ms Nikos."

She slowly gave a nod, walking forwards and pulling the chair out, the legs scraping a little on the deep green carpeting of the office. She sat down, hands crossed on her lap as she kept a calm expression on her, inwardly wondering what he wanted to talk to her about.

"Professor Goodwitch told me about your impressive performance during her combat lessons, against a wide range and variety of opponents. Not to mention your consistently good grades when it comes to Professor Port and Oobleck's subjects." The tinges of a smile appeared on his wiry features. "Well done."

"Thank you." Pyrrha didn't voice her curiosity as to why he was telling her something she already knew, knowing from experience that it was not her place to do so. She waited in silence, watching as Glynda Goodwitch looked away from the window at Ozpin, nodding to him before looking at her.

"We called you in here to discuss your team leader."

Pyrrha's eyes widened a moment before she glanced to the side. "Yes." she muttered, shaking her head and looking up. "What is it?"

Notably, Ozpin stayed silent while Glynda took out her scroll. "I am concerned about mr Arc's aptitude as a huntsman-in-training at this academy, to put it frankly."

She didn't say anything, having seen every sparring match Jaune has been in and watching the exact same outcome. Pyrrha nodded.

Glynda clutched the scroll in both hands. "His combat ability is lacking in several aspects. He does not or can not summon up the required focus to pay attention during academic classes. And his knowledge of weapons and armor is sub-par compared to the majority of the class."

Ozpin piped up, tilting his coffee cup and peering into its depths before swirling it around and having a sip. "But he does have a substantial aura. Am I correct, ms Nikos?"

Pyrrha hesitate for a moment before nodding quickly. "I've felt it myself, and I-"

"Do you believe he belongs in Beacon's ranks, ms Nikos?"

Surprise and shock filled her as Glynda's frank tone reached her ears.

"I-" She wanted to say that she did, with every fiber of her being, that she knew that Jaune was a born leader, that he could lead them through any crisis, within or without. But instead she narrowed her eyes, staring down at her lap with a forlorn expression. "... I believe so." She finally said, scared that she had just lied.

"And what do your base your opinion on?" Glynda stopped fiddling with the scroll, holding in her hands as she placed them behind her back and patiently waited for Pyrrha to answer.

This time her voice was quiet. "He's our leader." She glanced at Professor Ozpin, trying to work out the guarded expression the headmaster wore. "Do you not agree with Professor Ozpin picking Jaune?"

At this Ozpin raised a eyebrow, his chair creaking a little as he turned to glance at Glynda. She returned the glance with a hint of a scowl, turning her eyes back on Pyrrha.

The veteran huntress stopped a moment to push up her glasses before giving a stern nod. "Ms Nikos, it is my belief that Jaune Arc is not fit to be Team Juniper's leader. However, you are perhaps more suited to the role. It has always been a belief of mine."

Ozpin took over from there, clearing his throat as he picked up his coffee cup and took a swig of the steaming brown brew. "Is it yours as well, Ms Nikos?"

Pyrrha's hands tightened on her lap, forming fists. She shook her head, leveling a look between the two of them. "No. Jaune might not be leader material in your eyes, but to me and the rest of the team, he is. He proved that. And we don't need anymore evidence than _that_." She narrowed her eyes. "You might not be aware but he's going through a rough time. I believe in him."

With that she stood up. "Am I dismissed?"

"...Yes." Glynda nodded, exchanging a look with Ozpin while Pyrrha turned her back on them and left the room.

Ozpin held a amused smile as he laced his fingers together. "Good."

* * *

Jaune loosed a sigh, tipping his head back against the wall and looking up at the stars. He searched them in silence, several minutes going by as he somehow managed to pick out the shapes a few of them made, in particular settling on a collection of stars shaped like outstretched wings, sitting on either side of a oval body of four stars with one star sitting on its own at the top on one end, and two on the other.

He grimaced at the sight, remembering the Nevermore and the Deathseeker. How he actually took charge for the first, and only, time in his life. How for once he actually felt worthy to be called a Arc. Jaune gritted his teeth in frustration, standing up and pushing away from the wall, violently looking away from the stars and moving down the steps off of the roof.

His eyes found a loose stone and his foot sailed into it, sending it skittering through the gaps in the baroque styled railing and into the open air, dropping away from sight. He made his way down, a grim frown on him as someone yelled in surprise and annoyance in the grounds below the building.

"Hey, watch it!" The voice floated up to Jaune, making him freeze in his steps for a moment.

He shook his head and peered over the side at a guy rubbing his head. Despite the state he was in, Jaune weakly waved down to him. "Sorry! Foot... slipped." His words faltered as the guy turned away without a word back into the vast hall, its windows lighting up the grounds and bursting with bustle and noise.

Turning away from it as he reached the bottom, he found himself following the path towards the front of the grounds, moving past the vast and sturdy dome housing the auditorium, functioning as the entrance to Beacon's inner grounds. He wound up using the path that circled its ribbed walls, not caring to use the place where he had been constantly humiliated as a shortcut to the other side.

Jaune finally came to a stop a few moments later, in the shadow of a vast and magnificent fountain and the statues lording over it.

His eyes roamed over the pure white marble, and the more he stared at the armored man and hooded woman standing proudly on top of a boulder together, the more he sunk, further and further. Jaune focused on the armored man, loosing a sigh at how his outstretched sword seemed alive in his grip, even being made of stone like it was.

By his side the woman stood resolute, calm in the face of the ferocious beowulf snapping and snarling at the base of the rock as it shielded itself from them. The huge battleaxe standing in front of her, like it was part of her, only made him think more of how terribly he held his sword, how unnatural it felt to him.

"You remind me of them." Jaune squeaked and whirled around to see a girl standing there, taking a few steps back in surprise and pushing the tips of her fingers together. She hanged her head, her long brown hairs sagging a little. "Sorry!"

"Uh - it's... I'm-" He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, blinking twice when he noticed the timid girl, remembering her. "I was just clearing my head. We have the same class together, don't we?"

Her cheeks colored as she slowly nodded, her ears moving back and forth. "Um. We do. I'm Velvet."

"Jaune. Jaune Arc-" His words fell away as his eyes flicked up at the statue. Jaune stiffened for a moment, before closing his eyes and opening them with a tight smile at the Faunus girl.

"Actually, I've been wanting to talk to you. I know that you've stood up to Cardin and his brutes."

"Yeah. 'stood up'." Jaune grimaced, wondering exactly who else knew about the curbstomp he recieved at the hands of Cardin, most with him lying flat on his face.

"I think you were brave for trying." She blurted out in a rapid-fire string of words. Suddenly the girl turned away for a few moments, before slowly looking over her shoulder at him. "So... thank you."

He thought about telling her to say the opposite, to just leave him alone, when she nodded and moved off without another word, smiling back at him. Wordlessly he watched her go, seeing a far cry from the girl in the mess hall having her ears pulled.

With a sigh he sat on the smooth edging of stone ringing the fountain and the statues, slumping forwards and staring at his hands, counting the bruises and scratches still healing on them.

"So, I'm guessing you've been here the entire time?"

He started at the sight of Weiss standing there, a hand placed on her hip and head cocked with a unimpressed look on her. "Weiss? What are you doing out here?"

'Ruby might have - sort of - definitely, ordered me to come up here and talk some sense into you." Weiss arched a eyebrow and tapped her foot impatiently as all she got was silence from Jaune. "This whole Cardin thing has gone on for too long, you need to-"

"It's not Cardin." He averted his eyes and rubbed his bandaged shoulder underneath his hoodie. Staring down at the bricked path he narrowed his eyes, resisting the urge to turn and look up at the statues once more. He closed his eyes and loosed a sigh, before looking up at Weiss. "...I faked my transcript. Lied my way into Beacon Academy."

Immediately his thoughts screamed at him as a flicker of annoyance came Weiss's features. She slowly unfolded her arms, leveling a cold stare at him that froze the boy.

Jaune gulped.

To his surprise Weiss rolled her eyes and came over, sitting down next to him with her arms folded and chin turned up. Her eyes flicked towards him. "I should be reporting you to Professor Goodwitch and professor Ozpin."

Weiss's words were left hanging in the nighttime air as Jaune immediately nodded. "You probably should." he muttered, knowing that Pyrrha might have already done it by now. He buried his face in his hands.

"Hmm." Weiss looked him over, and promptly elbowed him in the side.

"Ow!"

"Be quiet. I know how you feel, Jaune."

He blinked twice, glancing at her. "Huh?"

Weiss crossed her arms and looked away from him, her face hardened. Jaune could easily see the faint scar over her eye, lightly obscured by her fringe. "I... well, you and pretty much everyone across Vytal know my family. As a Schnee, from the day I was born great things were expected of me. I was given everything. All the toys I could ever want or imagine, all the knowledge I could ever ask for, all the best tutors the world could provide. Just because I was born to the head of the Schnee dynasty. Quite a lot of pressure for a little girl to handle."

Jaune stared at her for a few seconds, in particular the scar over her eye, somewhat marring her refined features.

She caught his stare and quickly brushed her fringe over the scar, hiding it. "There a few things we have in common. A few."

He shook his head and nodded. "Uh huh."

"So you'll only hear this from me once; Get your act together, Jaune. Your team's counting on you."

With that she stood up and left, leaving him alone on the fountain with those words.


	4. Helping Hand

**A/N**

So yeah, this concludes the first part of the story. And it was pretty Jaune-centric. But the focus will shift onto Ruby and her team now, although Jaune and the others will still have a role to play, especially with the Vytal Festival coming up.

I will be taking a short break however, only for a week, than the next one will be up the following Thursday.

So, please review, please criticize.

* * *

_The Forever Fall._

"So... sap?"

Professor Goodwitch turned away for a few moments, pinching her nose and loosing a sigh before turning back to Yang. "Yes, Ms Xiao Long. We are collecting sap. We are not fighting Grimm. Or working on combat, or learning about auras and semblances. Just. Sap. Go back to your team."

She suppressed a exasperated sigh as the bubbly girl grinned, still wondering how she could have ever acted the same way when she was younger.

Yang stroked her chin for a few seconds, staring at the empty jar in her hand before looking back up and nodding eagerly, sticking her thumb up. "Neat!"

Whistling a jaunty tune she marched off, waving back at the Professor before rejoining Ruby and Weiss. She grinned at the star-struck look Ruby still held even after being in the forest for more than a hour.

She nudged her sister in the side. "Remember the family trip dad took us on?"

"Barely, I was like three years old." Ruby muttered, lost in the swathes of crimson leaves dancing in the air, slowly spiralling onto the ground to add to the innumerably thick carpet covering the entirety of the forest floor.

Nearby Weiss had a delicate green tinge to her, shuddering as she scraped thick and gluggy red sap from the bodie of one of the tree's. She blanched, sticking out her tongue as she watched the sap slowly pool inside her jar, congealing into a solid mass. She quickly screwed the cap on, before glancing over her shoulder and scowling at them. "Ruby! Don't suppose you want to help me collect some of this - ugh - sap?"

"Right. Coming!" Ruby left Yang with a grin and hurried over with her empty jar, brandishing a scooping knife as she stopped at the tree Weiss was working on.

Yang hummed under her breath as she slowly wandered over, her thoughts elsewhere as she popped off the golden lid on her jar with a short grunt, lowering her nose down to sniff at the dark red sludge collected inside.

A heady aroma filled her nostrils, and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she dipped her finger in and scooped out a little blob. Sucking it off her finger, her eyes widened at the utterly sweet taste filling her mouth, and she blinked twice at the jar before putting the lid back on.

She smirked at the thought of getting Blake to try some of the sap, only to realise that she couldn't see her cat-eared partner anywhere amidst the crimson trees and black trunks of the forest. Yang frowned as she stopped behind Ruby and Weiss while they placed their jars into a white case.

"Hey, has anyone seen Blake?"

Weiss glanced up at her. "Probably doing that ninja thing from those books of hers. She shouldn't run off on her own, there's Grimm in these forests."

Yang's face fell. She looked up, noticing that Pyrrha was off on her own, focusing intently on scraping the sap from it into a jar in her hands. She arched a eyebrow she looked over her shoulder at Jaune and shook her head, storming off further into the trees, leaving Jaune to sigh and slump to the ground while Lie Ren and Nora busied themselves with a nearby tree.

She decided to go over, placing her hands on her hips and looking down at the blonde boy as he stared forlornly up at the crimson canopy, his nose twitching as a leave tickled it.

Yang whistled. "Nice going, slick."

"- I was just trying to apologise." He muttered, his shoulders sagging as he sat up and loosed a sigh.

The tall blonde rolled her eyes and leaned down. Jaune yelped as her hand gripped his collar and pulled him to his feet in one swift move. He glanced at her, before looking off into the leafy crimson expanse, catching sight of Pyrrha only for a brief moment before she disappeared behind a cluster of bushes.

He grimaced, only to get a punch in the shoulder from Yang. "Ow!" Jaune seethed and rubbed his shoulder, shooting her a look. "Can't you see I've been beaten up enough already!"

"But you haven't hit rock bottom just yet."

Jaune froze for a moment, turning to her with a curious look and forgetting his shoulder. "What?"

Yang grinned. "Ozpin wouldn't have picked you for team leader if you gave up this easily now. Am I right?"

Despite his thoughts, Jaune found that her words actually made sense. For a few seconds he stared wordlessly at her, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared down at his feet. Jaune looked back up at her. "I... suppose."

She pushed him forwards, prodding him towards Lie Ren and Nora. "So get over there and talk to your team!"

Before he could protest she had already moved off back to where Ruby and Weiss were, leaving him to slowly, and against his better judgement, approach Nora and Lie Ren. The bubbly girl giggled and waved at him as she hanged upside down on one of tree's branches.

He uncertainly returned the wave, before holding his elbow and staring at his feet. "Uh, so... Any idea where Pyrrha went, guys?"

Lie Ren glanced over his shoulder at Jaune. "So, you're finally asking us for help?"

Jaune's face fell. "I- well- guess-" He stopped at the calm smirk on the stoic boy.

Hanging upside down from a branch above where Lie Ren was scraping ropey clumps of sap into his jar, Nora gave two thumbs up, her face cherry red. She clicked her tongue and raised her arms, pointing past him. "That-a-way, Jaune!"

"Yeah. Thanks." Jaune found himself gulping as his legs took him away from them and into the forest, leaving them behind. He tried to clear his thoughts by listening to the songbirds nesting in the trees above, or focusing on the leaves that constantly fell wherever he went.

The boy sighed to himself, thoughts soon turning back to the constant problem on his mind, and what his parents would do if they ever found out that he had-

"You idiots!" Jaune stopped at the sound of Cardin's enraged shouting, and even worse, the low hum of a heavy metal object being swung through the air while someone dodged it, grunting with exertion each time.

He followed the sounds with a grimace, froze in place as he watched Pyrrha dodge around Cardin's mace by a hairs breadth, while his teammates stood on the edges of the clearing. The boy frowned at the smear of red goopy stuff on the elaborate and clunky breastplate the brute wore.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune whispered when a twig underneath his foot snapped cleanly in two. He lifted up his leg and swore under his breath, ducking down behind the bush so Cardin couldn't spot him. Instead Pyrrha glanced in his direction, distracted long enough to have Cardin chuckle and swing his mace right into her stomach.

His eyes widened as she crumpled to the bed of crimson leaves, and Cardin lifted his mace with a sadistic smirk.

* * *

Focusing, Pyrrha breathed out a single breath just as Russel Thrush loosed a triumphant yell with his tomahawk ready to strike. Pyrrha's elbow crashed into his face and she swept his legs out from under him, before putting her shoulder behind Akouo and pushing with all her strength, sending the scrawny boy crashing into the other members of Cardinal barring Cardin.

The huge brute spared them a annoyed glance before charging, lifting the head of his great mace off the ground behind him and smashing down towards her at terrifying speed.

Pyrrha grunted as she raised her shield to absorb the meteoric impact, her arm going a little numb. She gritted her teeth and pushed Cardin back, spurring him to retreat briefly and rejoin the rest of his recovering team.

Her hand twitched, knowing that she could draw Miló within a second to give Cardin a taste of his own medicine. She grunted, weathering the rapid-fire blows Cardin rained down against her shield.

"It was real stupid of you to go off on your own, Nikos. But now we get the chance for a little group chat about interrupting me and Jauney boy!"

"You've been singling him out from day one. You're nothing but a bully, Cardin."

He chuckled. "What can I say? He just brings that side out in me." She narrowed her eyes and focused as he brought his mace out in front of him, and prepared for the inevitable rain of hits that jarred her arm each time.

Cardin flashed a little grin down at her, tempered with a series of frustrated growls when he realized she wasn't going to budge.

Her eyes flicked downwards, catching his fist swinging up towards her stomach. Pyrrha grunted as she blocked another blow from his mace, keeping her shield under the mace as she twisted around his side, dodging his fist while grabbing the shaft of his weapon at the same time.

She wrenched him off-balance, slipping her shield free of the heavy macehead and slamming it into his shoulder with a resounding clang, sending Cardin scrambling away with a grunt.

"You think you're too good to even use a weapon against me?!"

Pyrrha answered with a smirk, loosing a tired breath and glancing at her shield. "This _is_ my weapon."

She went to step forward before hearing something coming through the air at her. Pyrrha quickly stepped backwards, arching a eyebrow as a glass jar shattered on the ground where she once stood, the pungent aroma of the sap filling her nostrils.

Cardin growled as he charged forward, raising his mace when another smashed onto his chest plate, painting a blood-red smear on the golden bird emblazoned there.

He stopped in his tracks, staring the member of his team. "You idiots!" he bellowed, getting them to drop the jars they were hefting for another throw.

Blinking through the sweat she balanced on the balls of her feet for a second before springing forwards, raising her shoulder to crash into Cardin's breastplate while he was distracted-

A snapping twig got her attention and she glanced over at it's source, surprised to see Jaune standing there. Cardin chuckled as something heavy whistled through the air with a low hum, snapping her back into reality with bone-crushing force.

Her mouth flew open as a gasp tore out of her as a field of red filled her vision, Cardin's smirk growing bigger as she crumpled to the ground, instinct immediately making her curl up, everything in disarray and pain.

Pyrrha shivered, her eyes wide as she noticed the brute lifting his mace overhead, looming over her with a sadistic grin.

"Cardin! Stop!"

She hardly heard Jaune's panicked tone over her heavy breaths, her mind fogged over as she worked on trying to focus her swimming vision.

"Ursa!"

A blood-curdling roar shook the leaves around her. Cardin's eyes widened as a enormous shadow loomed over the pair of them. He took a step back in fear, mace clunking to the ground next to her shoulder before a huge mass of pitch black muscle lumbered over her and patted the brute away with a casual flick of it's paw, roaring a challenge to everyone in the clearing.

Jaune froze where he stood, eyes flicking down to where Pyrrha laid still on the ground as the Ursa Major looked at him with savage red eyes, it's face completely covered in a bone-like mask, with crimson markings.

It lumbered away, sniffing at the air before growling and making its way towards where Cardin had landed. The Ursa Major opened its maw in anticapation, revealing lines and lines of hooked and gnashed teeth as its breaths came out in steamed wisps.

The boy set his sights on Pyrrha, blocking out the huge Grimm focusing on Cardin as he came over. As he neared her, Cardin screamed. And Jaune stopped in his tracks with a stricken look. Paled, he glanced over his shoulder, the hairs on his neck standing up at the sight of the Ursa Major towering over the bully, bellowing triumphantly.

His world slowed, and he glanced down at Pyrrha for a single second. Then back at Cardin.

Jaune closed his eyes and nodded. Every single thought in his skull screamed at him to stop this but he put them out of mind, even though he agreed that all Cardin was good for was monster-chow. But as he drew his sword and extended his shield, beating the flat of the blade against it as he ran around the Ursa Major's side, he realised that may have been too dumb for his own good.

He slid to a stop over Cardin, ignoring the surprised yelp from the brute as he silently held his shield over his head, screwing his eyes shut in time for the thunderous blow to come.

Everything stopped in a instant.

First thing Jaune felt next was surprise. Surprise that he was still breathing, surprise that he wasn't remotely dead. The first thing he felt was a tingling sensation enveloping his entire body, and the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the pure white glow covering him.

The Ursa Major roared in frustration as it pushed downwards, using both paws but getting nowhere with the attempt. The crescent moon emblazoned on the face of his shield shined like a furious star.

Behind him Cardin whimpered as he scrambled backwards, leaving Jaune to realize that he was currently holding up a four-ton mass of raging muscle and claws with only his kite shield in between him and it.

"Oh... you're pretty big-" It roared, rage fueling the swipe it batted him to the ground with. His head swam as he fought to focus, managing to tuck into a roll and pop back up, slashing his sword wildly at it's side, slicing off a few bony spikes.

The Ursa screeched and raged as it whirled around and rammed its armored head into the boy's chest, shunting him off his feet. He rolled immediately, the leaves rustling as its forelegs stomped down inches from his face. He popped back up, glancing behind him and immediately running around the Ursa's opposite side to lead it away from Pyrrha as she slowly recovered.

He skidded to a stop, rapping his sword against his shield again to attract it's attention. The Ursa Major growled as it faced him, only a second passing before it began a ground-shaking charge.

Jaune narrowed his eyes, sparing a quick glance at Pyrrha before taking his chances and charging as well, keeping his shield up and blade by his side, lifting it up in preparation for a slash at the beast's neck.

Suddenly it reared up on its hindquarters to its full height, making him stumble to a stop. Jaune exhaled and yelled, thrusting the tip of his sword at the beast's exposed chest without noticing it was about to attack him.

Pyrrha's breath caught as she saw this, and grunted as she lifted up her arm. Her eyes narrowed as she focused all of her attention on his shield, taking a deep breath and feeling a familiar tingle down her arm as a soft grey energy surrounded it for a brief few seconds.

Too late Jaune saw the claws in the corner of his eye, but was already commited to his attack when a black energy surrounded his shield, making his skin tingle and armor shake and rattle. He grunted as his shield moved of its own accord, angled perfectly to deflect the beast's sharp claws.

The Ursa Major roared in surprise when its blow glanced off the shield, sending it off-balance as Jaune's own blade whipped through its exposed throat. It's last roar was cut off, as was its head.

The giant headless body fell backwards, shaking the ground.

Breathing heavily, Jaune didn't realize what happened for a few seconds. Blinking twice he shook his shield back into a sheath, staring in wonder at the giant he had just downed.

"Woah." he breathed, just as Cardin slowly edged over, staring at the dead Ursa as well.

"Jaune- you- you-"

His eyes flashed as he slowly turned to Cardin. "Go near me or my friends again Cardin, and _you'll regret it_." Jaune narrowed his eyes, clenching his hands as Cardin's eyes widened in shock and surprise for a few moments, before he nodded shakily.

Jaune turned and moved away, leaving Cardin to stare stricken at the bloody red stump where the Ursa Major's head used to be.

As the boy turned to her, Pyrrha gave him a tired nod, clutching onto her side.

"Jaune?!" Ruby and Weiss burst out of the bushes surrounding the clearing. "We heard roaring and screaming, so we-" Both Ruby and Weiss saw the dead Ursa and stared at each other.

* * *

_Dormitory Roof._

Jaune stared at the setting sun, content to let the wind just blow across his face with a gentle breeze, only for the quiet moment to be dashed by a lance of pain up his side. He hissed, hoping that he wouldn't have to put more bandages on. Four layers was more than enough.

He rubbed his hand, a voice in the back of his head still wondering how he was able to block that Grimm so effortlessly. After a few seconds he gave up and shook the thought away, chalking it up to instinct.

"So... how much sap did you end up collecting?"

"Wha!?" Jaune turned around, eyes wide at the sight of Professor Ozpin standing in the doorway with his cane in one hand, and calmly sipping his cup of coffee with the other, staring at him like a Hawk sighting prey.

He hissed and clamped a hand on his side. "Uh, all of it?"

Ozpin didn't answer, still sipping at his cup as he joined the boy, the dying sunlight reflecting on his black-tinted glasses. "Mr Winchester came to my office."

Jaune stiffened, fighting the urge to glance at the enigmatic man. He nervously cleared his throat, knowing how bad a idea it would be to ask. "Uh... sir?"

"About how you saved his life from that Grimm today. A Ursa Major too, not the easiest opponent to fight for someone with your level of skill, Mr Arc."

He didn't reply, instead staring down at the concrete, his eye catching the golden badge on the right breast of his uniform. He grimaced and nodded.

"You and I... we come from similar circumstances."

Jaune frowned and looked up at Ozpin as he continued to sip at his coffee. "S- sir?"

Ozpin spared him a knowing glance, not saying a word.

After a few seconds, Jaune managed to work it out. "You knew the transcript was fake."

"Fake transcripts aren't hard to spot. You need to work on making your lies believable." Ozpin glanced sidelong at him.

His good mood disappeared as Jaune sighed and slumped with a pout. "Great. So how long?"

Ozpin raised a eyebrow. "What do you mean? You're a student at Beacon now, on your first steps to becoming a huntsman."

"Uh... so you're not kicking me out?"

The headmaster sighed, shaking his head with the slightest hint of amusement. "Jaune. While the best and brightest do come to Beacon from skilled backgrounds such as Ms Nikos and Ms Rose, among others, that doesn't mean that we only accept those who have found their calling in life. Being a huntsman or huntress takes resourcefulness and the drive to accomplish your goal." The sun glinted off of Ozpin's dark lenses as he looked at him. "It doesn't matter how you got into Beacon, only what you do now that you are here."

Professor Ozpin glanced over his shoulder, chuckling to himself before smirking at Jaune. "I think you owe Ms Nikos a apology. Good luck."

"Huh-" Jaune turned around but he was already gone, and Pyrrha was already walking towards him. "Hi?"

She gave him a confident smile, looking none the worse for wear after what happened in the forest. "That. Was. Cool."

Jaune loosed a sigh, rubbing his hands together before turning to her. "Look. I'm really really really sorry about all that stuff I said, how stupid I was being, how idiotic I was acting, and I just wanted to say that-"

He stopped at the look of amusement on her. Pyrrha had her head tilted to the side, nodding along with what he said. "Really? A apology?"

"Uh..." Jaune started to fidget, scratching his cheek and shrugging. "That's... all I've got..." After a few seconds his shoulders slumped and he turned away from her. "I've been nothing but a bad leader. And a lousy friend."

He blinked twice as Pyrrha placed her hand on his shoulder and chuckled. "That's not what I saw. In the Emerald Forest, you were able to use what we bring to the team to take down that Death Stalker. Jaune, there's more to being a leader than being the individual who brings victory. A leader ensures the safety of his team and uses their talents to the fullest, above all else, and you did that. And... you kind of did save Cardin and I from a Ursa. There's that. You should feel proud."

"... I feel like you've been saving me all the time, to tell the truth."

"That doesn't change the fact that you are our leader, Jaune. I'll stick by you."

"So any suggestions for the leader of Team Juniper?"

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed as she smirked at him, placing a hand on her hip. "Nora's about to attack Ren's pancakes. If we get back to the dorm we can stop that from happening. Then... Training I think. You've got to work on that shield-arm."

Jaune's smirk matched hers, although tempered by a sigh. "I was afraid you were going to say that."


	5. Juniper and Ruby

**A/N**

So admittedly, nothing much will be happening this chapter. But from here onwards the story will be shaped in a similar fashion to what happened in canon, although with a different spin on it, especially Sun Wukong and Penny's introductions and Blake's troubles with the White Fang. The final however, will be entirely of my own making.

* * *

_Hunting Grounds, Beacon Academy._

The ground dropped straight down in dramatic fashion a few feet behind her, forming only one side of a vast and open pit through which a network of deep green hedge walls wormed around one another, dizzying the eye in the way they were jarringly arranged.

She barely batted a eyelid at the absence of noise coming from down there, even factoring in the presence of a number of captured Grimm running amok in the maze.

Goodwitch indicated Professor Port, his wide grin actually visible despite his distinguished moustache. "Professor Port's finest specimens will be your final opponents, everyone. But be warned, they gave the veteran Hunstman and Huntresses who caught them a run for their money.

Clearing her throat, she addressed her gathered students. "Once this day is complete, the combat trials and by extension, the majority of your day-to-day lessons-" Glynda's eyebrow twitched only barely before her eyes slid over to the strained expression on Jaune, clearly visible even though the boy was packed in with his teammates and other classmembers.

Jaune glanced around at all of the eyes directed in his direction before voicing his question. "So... is this some kind of exam thingy?"

Over Weiss's barely contained groan Goodwitch gave a slow nod. "Yes Mr Arc." She allowed herself a small groan herself. "A exam thingy." She ignored the amused glint in Ozpin's eyes as he sipped his coffee and stepped back, allowing him to move forward in full view of everyone.

"These final combat trials are tailored to each team's myriad strengths and weaknesses. Team Ruby. As the team to have shown both the most growth and potential from this class, you will be first to undertake this... exam thingy. And for speaking up, Mr Arc and Team Juniper will be also be tested." Ozpin raised a eyebrow and looked at Ruby's raised hand. "Yes Ms Rose?"

Ruby chuckled nervously as she scratched her cheek, ignoring the pointed look Weiss gave her. "So... this might be a bit late to ask, but... where are our weapons? We checked our lockers and-"

Ozpin grinned evilly as several cylindrical shapes shot down from the clear morning sky, thudded into different sections of the maze with thunderous impact, riling up the Grimm contained within. Ruby paled a little as her mouth hanged open while Ozpin sipped his coffee. "Oh. Here and there."

Despite Ruby's internal worry about Crescent Roses condition, or the fact that they landed so _far away_, next to her Yang just cracked her knuckles and neck in anticapation, getting a look of amusement from Pyrrha and Nora nearby. "So what are we waiting for?"

Blake raised a eyebrow as the only one who noticed Professor Port shouldering his Blunder-Axe and salute the entire class before hopping down into the maze with a jubilant cheer.

Ozpin once again grinned evilly as he held up a scroll, swiping once across its surface. "Your objective is to find your weapons and contain every Grimm inside the the maze before Professor Port does. Off you go."

"Professor Port, what-" Yang's face fell for a brief moment before a hidden springplate emblazoned with the academy symbol shunted her upwards with a surprised yelp. Blake stared wordlessly at where her partner had once stood before quickly steeling herself before she too was launched upwards.

Ruby and Weiss instinctively shifted towards each other, with Ruby's plate missing her feet by inches to spare. At a frown from Ozpin the one they both stood on catapaulted the two girls into the sky.

The headmaster tilted his head at the worried look on Jaune. The boy chuckled nervously as he very slowly inched to the side, in the hopes Pyrrha wasn't standing on a hidden plate.

Jaune's eyes flicked downwards as his heel tapped against the corner of a metal plate buried in the grass. He glanced at Pyrrha. She gave him a nervous grin.

Ozpin sighed as he swiped his scroll again, preparing to launch the four of them into the maze as well. "Team Juniper. You'll be competing against Team Ruby."

* * *

"That headmaster is a dirty scoundrel!" Weiss shouted at the top of her lungs, all the while clinging onto Ruby for dear life as they both hurtled towards the outer section of the maze, nearing the tops of the hedgerows forming the walls.

"Weiss, is now really the time?!" Ruby squeaked, catching a glimpse of the ground rushing up to meet them.

Just as the tallest blade of grass was inches below the tip of her nose her descent was abruptly halted as someone grabbed her foot "Gotcha!" She opened her eyes as she dangled upside down, blinking up at Yang.

Nearby Weiss bent her knees and tucked into a roll, grunting as she faceplanted into a hedgerow. Cursing under her breath she shook her head and stumbled towards them, holding her nose.

"Yang, put me down." Ruby's head spun as gently placed her on the grass, laying there for a few moments as her heart stopped pounding before getting to her feet with utmost care. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked around. "Where's Blake?"

As soon as she voiced the question a group of Beowulfs began howling deeper in the maze. Yang grinned nervously. "Probably running from them. We found her weapon as soon as we landed. She'll distract them while we find ours."

"Then we'll get to mine first and-"

"Ruby." Weiss gave a annoyed grunt, her voice thick and muffled as she held her bleeding nostrils. "We need to get my weapon first. With my semblance we can get to her in no time."

"I suggest you start moving, girls!" The three of them started, whirling around to look down the outermost part of the maze, staring in shock and awe as Professor Port saluted them, moving further into the maze with a net filled with beowolfs and ursa behind him. "I've already bagged a few of my specimens! Now to catch that wily Mantis!"

Yang narrowed her eyebrows, watching him disappear. "There's no way I'm letting a old man beat us." She turned to Ruby. "We'll find Weiss's first."

"Right."

The three of them set off through the twisting passages and bends, keeping their eyes on the general direction one of the lockers landed closest to them. The sounds of Professor Port's laughter echoed amidst howls and snarls and the periodic boom of a gun or bone-shattering thud of a axe in the dirt.

Yang saw it first, skidding to a stop in a intersection of clear paths, the one to their side opening into a spacious garden filled with crimson flowers, disturbed and shredded by the grey cylinder sticking out of the ground at a angle in the center, resisting a curious Ursa's attempts to open it.

It sniffed at the air, making the three of them pause before it grunted and went back to scratching the smooth metal trying to pry it open. They glanced at each other trying to figure out how to get past it when a shadowy blur flickered over the field of crimson flowers, a black rope trailing behind it. The Ursa growled but backed away too late as loop after loop of rope wound around its legs and mouth.

The creature loosed a muffled roar in surprise as Blake flickered into view in front of it, a bundle of rope looped over her arm and her sword sheathed on her back. It lunged for her, tightening the ropes even further and causing it to topple forwards, unable to break free or move far.

Blake sidestepped the captured Ursa and moved to the locker, banging on its front to pop open the shaken door. She smirked at the three of them as they approached, Weiss getting there first and grabbing Myternaster from inside the locker.

She experimentally spun the revolver chambers, checking each of the dust cartridges before giving a nod of thanks to Blake. "Not bad."

The raven-haired girl wasn't done as she tossed a pair of brilliant golden gauntlets over to a surprised Yang.

"Awesome work!" Surprise changed to uncontained excitement as Yang slipped the Ember Celica's over her arms, putting her fists together and nodding her appreciation to Blake.

"So, you guys've got all of yours, we just need to find Crimson Rose and then-"

A girlish scream rang out over the maze, interrupting Ruby.

Yang frowned. "I've heard that scream before."

* * *

Jaune rolled underneath the beowolf as it lunged, swiping at him from both sides and managing to snag some of his golden locks. He rubbed his head as Pyrrha shoulder checked the beast into the ground, quickly getting on its back and slamming its head down into the ground several times until the Grimm cried a short whimper.

Pyrrha arched a eyebrow as she pulled him to his feet.

"What? It nearly took my head off." Nora waved in his direction after batting a beowolf into the sky, while Lie Ren had just finished downing another pair. They both came over.

"It's okay, Jaune, my dad screams like a girl too!"

"Thanks, Nora."

She sighed while moving towards the locker sticking out of the ground nearby, opening it up and pulling out Milo and Akouo with a grin. Pyrrha frowned. "I was certain that there were two lockers that landed here."

"Huh?" Jaune raised a eyebrow and looked over his shoulder, seeing the other locker embedded in a hedgerow. "Oh, it's just over-" Suddenly the contraption whined and squealed, bucking around as its thrusters flared up. He yelped and dove to the side as it rocketed by, slamming a unwary beowolf into the ground and bowling over several of the curious pack as they moved towards Pyrrha and Jaune.

When they caught sight of the two they snarled and snapped their jaws, howling all at once before spreading out across the garden and surrounding them on all sides. Jaune and Pyrrha carefully scanned the crowd of baying Grimm, while the locker continued to thrash around with the hapless beowolf hanging on for dear life.

The creature's frenzied pawing tore open its compartment, depositing Jaune's sheath-shield and sword on the ground before the locker rocketed out of sight, carrying the beowolf into the distance.

"We need to figure out how to catch them." Lie Ren said, raising his Stormflowers and aiming them at the beowolves.

Jaune nodded as he drew his sword and unfolded his shield, keeping it rigid like Pyrrha taught him to. "It won't really matter if we get torn apart. We can't beat them on our own!" On his other side Pyrrha grimaced for a moment, before nodding her agreement.

"We can deal with these ones and link up with Ruby and her-"

Four girls yelled and screamed in unison off in the distance. Jaune blinked twice, watching as Ruby and her team either crashed through or were thrown over the top of the hedgerows. Yang shielded Ruby with her body as they hit the ground, while Weiss and Blake managed to land on their feet.

The beowolves howled and snarled at the newcomers.

"Glad you could join us!" Nora hummed as she hefted her hammer onto her shoulder, narrowing her eyes and smirking.

Ruby rubbed her head as she got to her feet, awkwardly grabbing Crimson Rose from her back and unfolding it out to its full length. "Yeah..." A gargantuan shadow loomed over the garden the eight of them stood in. The beowolves silenced their baying as a huge creature thudded down among them, tossing a few like ragdolls.

As its furry wings folded in, the clawed ends of its six legs dug into the ground, supporting the bulbous and shiny abdomen and armored thorax. The antennae on its head swiveled in their direction as it looked down at them with six red eyes, its car-sized pincer jaws snapping together with a loud and terrible series of clicks.

Jaune narrowed his eyes, sharing a nod with his team before looking at Ruby. "Care to lend a hand?"

She tilted her head and gave him a wry look, brandishing Crimson Rose. "You bet."

As it roared the eight of them immediately scattered in all directions, but not straying far enough to get separated or hemmed in without being helped. Jaune quickly scanned the roving beowolf packs Ruby and Weiss held at bay, while Nora kept the mantis distracted by swinging her hammer at its legs.

He worked it out and called out to Pyrrha and Yang.

"Pyrrha! Yang! Stun the big one!"

Even before he finished his sentence both girls closed in on the mantis from either side, Pyrrha banging her shield to get its attention while Yang closed in for a few strikes on its legs before dashing back to avoid a swipe, allowing Pyrrha to slash at it once it focused on the blonde brawler.

A few beowolves had sighted him and he was forced to run, avoiding their snapping jaws and swiping claws as best he could. He lost his concentration and sight of the two girls after long, and it didn't take much for him to work out another kink in the plan.

"Blake, Ren. Round up the beowolves!"

"On it!" Lie Ren launched a kick at one of the beowolves chasing him, sending it down with a yelp as Yang blocked one's jaws with his shield, loosing several kicks into its stomach to force it off-balance. He growled as he tackled it to the ground, bashing it with the shield until the beowolf lost consciousness.

Lie Ren helped him up before running of to join Blake, having finished roping together a pack before weaving around the slashes of a pair. Blake slashed back at them, holding them at bay and dancing backwards. Suddenly her back hit the hedgerow, filling her with surprise as she ducked down to avoid wicked claws.

She managed to return her own just as something tugged on her hair for a moment before pulling free, sending a sensation of sweet and utter relief down from two points on her had. Her eyes widened as she felt the air on them, for a moment forgetting where she was.

Then she remembered her secret.

Blake's eyes flashed as she flew straight at the beowolf, ramming her blade right through the back of its skull. The creature loosed a surprised yelp before a dying whimper escape its maw and it toppled forwards, he r prized black ribbon fluttering in the breeze while entangled in the Grimm's outstretched claws.

"Blake, need some help!"

Her eyes widened as she noticed Jaune's frown, before he turned to block a blow from the Bisector's claws. She quickly pulled the ribbon free, tying it back onto her head and running back to the fight. "C-coming!"

The mantis hissed, its wings rattling as it beared down on Weiss, ignoring Pyrrha's attempts to distract it with her shield as it lashed a spindly leg out her. Weiss grunted as it caught her in the belly and sent her flying back, nearly hitting Ruby in the process.

"Watch out, Weiss!" Ruby quickly raised Crimson Rose to block the mantis's claw as it crashed down, gritting her teeth as she noticed Jaune and Pyrrha being forced back by its other claw.

"This thing isn't going down!" Weiss hissed at Ruby.

Ruby grimaced. "I don't know what to do-"

"What are you doing!" Weiss squeaked as Yang grabbed the back of her collar together with Rubys, grinning eagerly at both of them.

"Giving you guys a boost!"

"Could have said something sooner!" Weiss yelled back, before looking ahead and brandishing Myternaster as she and Ruby rocketed just above the ground, firing shots from Crimson Rose and tracing gravity glyphs underneath them to stay on course.

The huge mantis's many legs shifted in unison, a forest of spindly shadow. They caught each other's eye and nodded. Ruby loosed a yell as Crimson Rose's crescent edge sliced through the legs on one side as easily as it would through butter, black fluid flying everywhere as Weiss did the same on the other side, Myternaster's razor-thin edge glowing a silvery white.

Above them the black beast toppled to the ground, madly swiping at the air and writhing around as the two of them emerged out the other side, rolling to a stop on the ground.

They looked back as Jaune and Pyrrha both slammed their shields into its exposed thorax, cracking it in several places and diving to the sides to make room for Yang. The blonde uppercutted the mantis, loosing a fiery shotgun blast that snapped the creature's head upwards.

As she kicked off its chest and landed near Ruby and Weiss, she blowed a loose golden bang out of her eye and straightened.

"Could have warned us." Weiss hissed.

Yang winked. "It worked didn't it?"

The three of them watched as Jaune pointed his sword at the mantise's bulbous head as it loosed several slow clicks and shrieks. "Nora! Smash!"

The wide grin the short girl flashed him unnerved Jaune _just_ a little. "Can do, boss!" With that she bounded forwards, trailing her hammer behind her with a look of glee. The mantis futilely swiped at her, only for a hammer swipe to knock the limbs into the sky.

Her hammer swung with meteoric speed into the underside of the mantis's jaw, easily shattering the black chitin and completely separating its head from its broken body, at the same time unleashing a explosive wave of cherry pink energy. The impact kicked up a dust cloud from the sheer force alone.

The dust settled, revealing the absolutely pulverized remains of the once grotesque insectoid giant. Nora proudly stood in pride of center, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands despite the gigantic hammer she held onto.

Jaune shared a glance with a paled Ruby. "Remind me not to get on her bad side."

A pair of strong hands pushed in between him and Ruby, belonging to Professor Port as he stumbled to a stop, breathing heavily as he leaned on his blunder-axe. His mouth hanged open at the destruction wrought in the area and the beowolves either knocked out or struggling in a heaped pile of their brethren.

"The Bisector! The jewel of my specimens, no!" Professor Port sunk to his knees, moustache deflated as he stared with a forlorn expression at the bisected pieces of what used to be the Bisector. Yang cleared her throat nervously as she patted him on the back.

"Uh... there there?" Yang glanced at the others and shrugged.

Ozpin stepped off a platform of rock being levitated by Glynda Goodwitch, and gave all of them a nod. "Well done."

* * *

_Auditorium, Beacon Academy._

"Team Ruby. Team Juniper. You have all shown excellent martial ability and prowess, and easily adapted to the numerous trials the Academy has put you through. Be they academic..." Ozpin glanced at Jaune, while Goodwitch shot the headmaster a pointed look. "Or extracurricular. As such, it is very difficult to say which team is more effective or potent than the other. Both of you have completed the trial."

The entire class clapped heartily for the two teams, filling the auditorium with a resounding echo.

Pyrrha beamed, elbowing Jaune in the side while Nora practically bounced from foot-to-foot in her excitement, glancing at Lie Ren every once to poke the slight smile he had.

Ruby basked in the sweet golden glow of victory before being interrupted by Yang accidentally hitting her as she pumped her fist, hopping in the air. Weiss rolled her eyes at the display before looking down at the floor with a slight smirk, while Blake stayed quiet and still.

As the clapping died down, Jaune noticed Cardin and his team hadn't bothered clapping. He tried not to focus on it, putting all of the bad blood between them behind him.

Ozpin adjusted his glasses. "That isn't all." The crowd whispered to each other, shifting a little as curiosity got the better of them.

"Team Cardinal... you have also shown great unity and teamwork during your own trial. A key trait among Hunters and Huntresses." At the front of the crowd, Cardin visibly frowned in confusion, looking at the other members of his team as they scratched their heads.

"Okay..." Yang lowered her arms as she raised a eyebrow, keeping her voice low.

"What's professor Ozpin thinking? Cardin and his team are just a bunch of brutes." Ruby hissed and clenched her fist before seeing the conflicted look on Jaune.

He glanced at her. "Maybe Cardin's changed."

Weiss folded her arms and snorted. "They still can't beat us though."

Glynda Goodwitch loudly cleared her throat as Ozpin loosed a quiet sigh. "Despite your excellent combat and skills records, it has been decided that you will not be representing Vale alongside Team Ruby and Juniper. That is all."

Jaune frowned at the devastated look on Cardin and the looks of anger and outrage coming from his team. He glanced at Professor Goodwitch, not failing to notice the knowing look she directed at him and Pyrrha. "That was harsh." he muttered.

Weiss heard him. "Not harsh enough I say."

Ozpin came forward. "The end of these trials marks the end of your day-to-day lessons, everyone. You've earned your rest. And I hope you all experience everything the Vytal festival has to other. Dismissed."

The crowd cheered as they splitted apart into their groups, each going out through different exits of the auditorium, with Cardin and his group the last to leave.

On the stage, Ozpin nodded at the eight of them before moving off with Professor Goodwitch, their footsteps echoing together.

Jaune's yawn broke the silence. "I'm beat, heading back to the dorm to catch some sleep sounds good?"

"What about food, Jaune?"

He loosed a sigh. "Yeah, I forgot about that. Food it is, Nora. The rest of you coming?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Fine. After that I'm taking you up to the roof for training."

Nora sniggered at the look of despair on Jaune. Yang ruffled his hair as she came closer. "Food sounds good." She followed them off the stage, glancing back at Ruby and Weiss to see if they were coming.

Ruby started to follow Weiss after them before stopping herself.

"Hang on." Ruby turned around, nodding her chin at where Blake stood, still quiet with her eyes on the floor.

Weiss sighed and waved her arm as she left the stage after the others.

Ruby slowly made her way to Blake, unsure if she even wanted help. She steeled herself with thoughts about being there for her team in all situations, and stopped in front of her. "Uh, Blake? You've been pretty quiet since we got here. Aren't you excited? We're gonna be representing Vale in front of all of Vytal!"

"I am. Don't worry, Ruby... I'll catch up with you guys."

She smiled as convincingly as she could to reassure Ruby. "Oh..." Ruby smiled back after a long pause. "Okay." She lingered for a while, eyes darting around before she turned and walked off the stage.

In the huge dark space Blake lingered for a moment, nervously reaching her hand up to the top of her head for a few moments before stopping herself and sighing.


End file.
